GAMSAT Section 2 Essay Tips: Hit them in the feels with stories and metaphors

When writing, especially in a scenario such as the GAMSAT Section 2 when you only have limited time and a less-than-captive audience it is important to make as big an impact as quickly as possible. This is so you distinguish yourself from the hordes of competitors and improve your chances.

Now anyone who has read much scientific literature will know that it is difficult to engage someone with facts, figures, and dry opinions. You might be wondering how to refine your humanities essay without sounding like a thesaurus that has been jig-sawed. The answer to having a punchy effect is in forming a narrative and the use of metaphor.

Humans as a part of their cognitive evolution will always seek out patterns to make sense of any information that they are presented with. More so than patterns, they will also seek out narratives to establish causal relationships.

This is something that can be used to your advantage. By simply presenting your writing as a sequence of causal relationships, you will grip your reader as they seek to understand the pattern and keep reading to determine the endpoint.

This can be accomplished in both creative and analytical writing. The former should be obvious, but in the latter by starting at the beginning of a chain of evidence and slowly building from causal step to causal step, your ultimate conclusion will be all the more persuasive.

Metaphors are a great tool to help your users understand the abstract or unfamiliar content. By linking abstract information to a concrete concept, it becomes easier for people to understand the information.

How many times has any of us had the experience when a concept we were familiar with but never understood was explained in a slightly different or novel way and it has led to an immediate, illuminating understanding. This is the power of metaphor, whilst precision and technical language are all well and good, it can sometimes be inaccessible to those who do not have a grounding in the field. In these cases, metaphors can be invaluable by couching unfamiliar concepts within familiar, or at least intuitive examples.

Not only this, metaphor can also be very effective for triggering emotions. This is valuable, because if people experience some elevation of emotion during their reading, not only will it make their experience more enjoyable, but also more memorable compared to the many other examples of essays. Emotions not only make your design appealing to people but also more effective, pleasurable and memorable.

When you’re trying to express an idea, try to think of a novel or unusual way to describe a series of events. It’s a quick and relatively easy way to boost engagement and effectively demonstrates the sophistication of your writing skills.

Hopefully, this helps you with your GAMSAT Preparation - for more tips you can get access to our free GAMSAT example essays. Otherwise, make sure to continue reading and writing regularly in the build-up to the GAMSAT Exam.